It was a season of love in the afternoon; of slow time and long caresses， of strawberries...passing from mouth to mouth like the wet， ripe and softly bruised essence of pleasure itself... Lyrical prose and lush imagery have earned Niall Williams international acclaim. His first novel， Four Letters of Love， was selected as one of the Most Notable Books of the Year by the New York Times. Now this gifted author offers a tale of dreams granted and stolen， of life given and denied， and of love as everlasting on this earth... AS IT IS IN HEAVEN. Time has already stopped for Stephen Griffin when he moves into the little house by the sea. Twenty-eight years old and haunted by death， the tall， awkward， shy schoolteacher is content to care for his father in Dublin and let life pass him by. Then a miracle appears: a string ensemble from Venice and， with it， a violinist named Gabriella Castoldi. Even though the worldly， beautiful musician seems incapable of giving her heart， love seizes Stephen Griffin...unbidden and shaking every particle of his spirit. Stephen s ailing father sees it and fears for his naive son. Nelly Grant， the greengrocer， predicted it and welcomes its sheer joy. Moses Mooney， the blind musician， has sensed its coming. None， however， can envision the depth and consequence of this union. For Gabriella will change not only Stephen s life but， in the deepest sense， the lives of everyone around them. AS IT IS IN HEAVEN evokes the magical essence of romance and its miraculous ability to grace even the darkest life with light. Splendidly crafted and charged with poignancy， it firmly establishes Niall Williams as a master storyteller in the grand tradition of Irish literature.